Issue 8: Winter 2011
Audrey The Trainwreck
"For Ron Hogan, life is fine... not great, not good, just... fine, and on the verge of retiring any sort of dream he's harboured of a life less ordinary. Pushing thirty and working a thankless office job, internet dating is one more routine in Ron Hogan's well-ordered life. God knows, his lonely roommate and lonelier co-workers have tried, but not even a dart to the back of the head can shake him out of his funk. Until he meets Stacy, a fellow working stiff who disarms him by speaking the language of his loneliest moments." - Press Release
The opening sequence of Audrey The Trainwreck (2010) takes place in a dimly-lit barroom. The handheld camera roams back and forth between a multitude of characters. The soundtrack consists of several conversations which overlap in an overbearing way. These elements imply an improvised and spontaneous style of filmmaking, but director Frank V. Ross is cunningly precise in his framing and sound mixing. The slovenly aesthetic is deceptive, since it appears to be evasive in singling out any specific character, when in fact it is focussing in on the character of Ron in an unassuming manner which dialogue doesn't emphasise. Ross moves beyond realism as perceived in traditional cinema to make the scene so disarmingly naturalistic that the images could be abstract portrait pieces if they were not held together by a tenuous narrative thread. Sequences involving only two characters interacting are less chaotic, but they still prove unconventional in standard cinematic terms. They often ramble in a manner that veers from being refreshingly different to mundane, yet the film is never less than engaging. The dialogue rarely divulges much in terms of relevant plot exposition. Instead, the viewer is required to decipher information through the tone of the conversation and, more significantly, through reading the facial expressions and body language of one character reacting to another.
Ross has assembled a cast of excellent actors to embody even minor characters, but it is the two central performances that are most noteworthy. In the role of Stacy, Alexi Lasser displays a vibrant screen presence that has only been hinted at with supporting roles in such genre films as Choose and Growth. Lasser's large blue eyes are vulnerably expressive, particularly when the camera lingers on her during any dialogue exchange with Ron, or the bridal shower scene where Stacy awkwardly tries to mingle with a group of strangers but eventually fades into the background. Lasser displays a mixture of despair and optimism in her character's loneliness, which is in interesting contrast to Anthony J. Baker's portrayal of the deluded Ron. Baker has displayed an impressive acting range through his appearances in many of Ross' previous films including Hohokam and Present Company, and his role in Audrey The Trainwreck is of a tragic figure whose denial is all-too plausibly believable. For most of the narrative, Ron refuses to acknowledge that he is unhappy in his employment situation, yet his depleted and disgruntled demeanour illustrates otherwise. Ron restrictively internalises the alienation he feels, while Stacy openly externalises it.
- Christopher O'Neill